Fox's Shephard Smith:Wisconsin Fight Has Nothing Do With Budget, All About Busting Unions

On Wednesday's "Studio B," Shepard Smith said the battle over union rights in Wisconsin was all about busting unions and securing Republican political power, not about the state's budget deficit.
It was a take that placed Smith squarely in agreement with people such as Rachel Maddow, who has repeatedly argued essentially the same thing on her show.
Speaking to a mostly-in-agreement Juan Williams, Smith said the fight was "100 percent politics."
"There is no budget crisis in Wisconsin," he said, adding that the unions "[have] given concessions." The real point of the fight, Smith said, could be found in the list of the top ten donors to political campaigns. Seven out of the ten donated to Republicans; the other three were unions donating to Democrats.
"Bust the unions, and it's over," Smith said. He then brought up the Koch brothers, the billionaires who have bankrolled much of the anti-union pushback in Wisconsin. The fight, Smith said, "started" with the Kochs, who he said were trying to get a return on the money they donated to Walker's campaign.
"I'm not taking a side on this, I'm just telling you what's going on...to pretend this is about a fiscal crisis in the state of Wisconsin is malarkey," Smith said.
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Shepard Smith's conversation today with commentator Juan Williams would likely surprise loyal viewers of both Fox News and MSNBC. Shep's repeated assertion that there is no longer a budget crisis in Wisconsin and that the battle in the state is all about politics and union-busting was most shocking because that's the exact argument many of MSNBC's commentators have made, and continue to be suggesting.
Shep suggested that the Democratic party could be in big trouble if their biggest donors, the unions, lose their power and summed it up as "bust the unions -- it's over." Furthermore, Shep brought up the fact that the "Koch brothers, among others, were organizing to try to bust labor -- it's what big business wants to do." Given that the Koch brothers contributed to the campaign of Wisconsin Governor Walker, Shep said people should not be surprised that now they want unions busted. Despite Shep claiming "I'm not taking a side on this, I'm telling you what's going on," Williams warned Shep that "just by telling the facts, you're angering a lot of people."
Oddly, it seems Shep's unexpected disclosure of facts does give some credence to at least the Koch brothers component of Ed Schultz's argument that the union showdown is part of a right wing "master plan." However, given that Shep adamantly declared "to pretend this is about a fiscal crisis in the state of Wisconsin is malarkey," it seems like Fox News' participation in such a "master plan" isn't what Schultz might have suspected.
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[@digitalPimple]

I'm not in big business and I want to bust public unions. They are spending my tax money and bankrupting my state. My taxes keep going up because of these public unions and the democrats.

[@thoughtfinder]

Excuse me Shep.When Walker took office in Wisconsin he inherited a 130 billion dollar deficiet.That number is now down to 106 million dollar number and still going down.It is more than just unions.

[@papercut32]

I love how Juan basically warns Shep that his job might be in jeopardy if he keeps telling the truth. I really, really hope Shep brings in enough ratings to stay at Fox.

[@TheDybbob89]

@lukeboylan1224 You are right about that specific statistic but now Im confused. Im not familiar with the American system thnx for pointing that out btw I'm gonna dig into this. Either way Unions should not have their bargaining rights taken away from them. I cant believe conservatives want to actually have more government in business. With Unions you make contracts in which both parties agree upon something, and usually if done right its with no government involvement

[@langox510x]

Yay!!! Fox for the win!!! It's moments like this that makes me as a Democrat watch Fox from time to time. :)

[@RobertHasty]

Shep should move over to CNN. Fox is hurting his reputation, hes a good dude.

[@shaochiavang]

Go read a book and do some homework on politics, then come back and comment.

[@cbasswm]

@lukeboylan1224 do me and yourself a favor just google top ten political contributers

[@back2themusic]

That's it for Shep, I am afraid.

[@killerecho]

1:23 "Don't upset our masters."

[@deuddersun]

Finally! Someone on Faux Noise who tells the truth!

[@TheDybbob89]

@lukeboylan1224 lol i hope ur kidding

[@tigerboy699]

good for you shepard

[@ransom1wi]

wow